Chinese word

暖气

Pronunciation

Pinyinnuǎn qì

Meaning

  • nounheating

Example

我们家的暖气还没开。wǒ men jiā de nuǎn qì hái méi kāi

The heating in our house isn't on yet.

Illustration for 暖气 (heating)

More examples

小区今天停了暖气，大家都很冷。xiǎo qū jīn tiān tíng le nuǎn qì dà jiā dōu hěn lěng

The heating in the residential area was shut off today, and everyone is very cold.

Core concept

Warmth delivered into rooms by equipment or a building-wide heating network.

Common phrases

  • 开暖气kāi nuǎn qì

    turn on the heating

  • 关暖气guān nuǎn qì

    turn off the heating

  • 暖气开着nuǎn qì kāi zhe

    heating is on

Similar words

空调kōng tiáo: A unit that controls indoor temperature and humidity by heating, cooling, or drying the air.

Definition in Chinese

为室内提供温暖的设备或系统，通常指把室内空气加热的集中供暖设施。wèi shì nèi tí gōng wēn nuǎn de shè bèi huò xì tǒng tōng cháng zhǐ bǎ shì nèi kōng qì jiā rè de jí zhōng gōng nuǎn shè shī

Word origin

暖气 (nuǎnqì, "warm air") combines 暖 (nuǎn, "warm") with 气 (qì, "air"), linking the physical heated air with the system that delivers it.

Usage tips

  • The same word fits a discussion about whether building heat is operating, so everyday Chinese often focuses on whether the shared system has started rather than on a portable appliance.

Other meanings

  • heaternoun
  • warm airnoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 暖气片nuǎn qì piànradiatornoun
  • 暖气管nuǎn qì guǎnheating pipenoun

Word lists with this word